Love's Labour's won
by Masakali
Summary: Martha Rodgers overthinks her life when she is interrupted by the presence of a visitor that wouldn't only change her live, but also that of her son and his family. Rating K for now, will go up with later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**I know, I know, I seriously need to update my other works. But this one just happened. I do have a note about this one however: This is a crossover, and I will add the second fandom (if possible) with the second chapter. **

**Oh, naturally both fandoms aren't mine. Hah, if only. Yes, this perhaps is a cryptically disclaimer but a proper one will follow in the second chapter. Yup, such mystery!**

Seventy-nine year old Martha Rodgers inhaled deeply, enjoying the current silence. Much as she hated to admit it, she preferred silence over sound now. Silence offered her time to think, and thinking was something that she severely needed now. The object of her thinking was her son, Richard Alexander Rodgers, famously known as Richard Edgar Castle. Her beautiful, amazing son was now a responsible father and husband to his two three children and his gorgeous wife Katherine Beckett. And though he had everything he ever wanted, he didn't _know _everything. And the question here was whether she should tell him that pivotal information or not.

'Miss Rodgers?'

Martha shot up her head at the sudden intrusion to see her nurse, Alicia Reynolds, peeking inside Martha's exclusive room. Her son, as a famous and rich writer, had rented an exclusive room for her, which was foreseen with all luxuries a senior citizen flat could offer.

'Yes Alicia?'

'There is a gentleman here that would like to see you if you wish so.'

'For me? Who would it be?'

'He wouldn't offer his name; he just said he was Alfred's friend.'

Martha's tired eyes grew big as she recognized the name she hadn't heard for decades now, and she felt her heartbeat increase when she realized who the person in question was.

'Let him in, Alicia…No wait, give me five minutes before you send him in.'

Alicia nodded and disappeared, and Martha stood up from her bed to get to the closest mirror. She soon found one in the hall.

'Oh my,' she sighed as she peered at her own image. Her fingertips gently travelled over her face, investigating the wrinkles on her forehead, around her eyes and her cheeks. Age had indeed caught up with her, and she sighed as she thought of how her face looked the last time he'd seen her.

She then went over to her small box of jewelry, and took out that very necklace he had eventually given her after all that ruckus they had made over it. A blood red lipstick followed, and with a little smirk, Martha put it on her aged lips. Last was the black line of kohl, lightly yet expertly put on the wrinkled eyelids.

'I suppose this is as good as it gets today,' she mused as she brushed her hair quickly, the tired hair that was done with the hair dye and was mostly grey now. She gave herself a last look in the mirror before she went back to her living room, awaiting her visitor. She didn't have to wait long, three knocks soon followed after she made herself comfortable.

'Can I come in?'


	2. Chapter 2

**Two chapters in one night…I'm on a roll! So I loved writing this chapter, because of the big reveal at the end. Or perhaps you figured it out already and the end is only lame. Tell me what you thought of it in a review! And yes, constructive criticism is as appreciated as compliments.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either fandoms, otherwise this would totally happen. **

'I thought I would never see you again, you know?'

Martha's visitor smirked as he sat down on the seat she pointed at.

'Even when you performed in my city?'

'My, my, careful with the adjective! I really do prefer _our _city, my love.'

'I am glad to see you haven't lost your rapier wit with age.'

'Contrary; I have even passed it on to our son.'

Martha's visitor closed his eyes as she brought up their son, and she saw he was close to choking up. Her beloved had aged well with time, and was still dashing in her eyes. His hair was somewhat darker than their son's, but they had the same jawline. Their son had blue eyes, his father had green ones. No; they didn't not exactly look alike. Thank God for that, Martha thought. It had been the one thing she both regretted and enjoyed. But it had helped keeping her son safe, and that was all that mattered. That was all that had mattered for the past forty years.

'He is great, you know.'

'I have seen the tabloids, yes.'

Both smirked at that remark, remembering Richard's "page-six-days", before their son had met their daughter-in-law, Katherine Beckett.

'Who would have known a son of _ours _would become a writer?'

'A crime-fighting one, that is, thank you.'

'Yeah, you must be proud of him.'

'I am. God knows I am.'

Their harmless banter had turned serious again, and Martha was remembered of the last time they had had a serious conversation…

'_You can't stay here.'_

_She cried, something she rarely did, and even in his eyes tears were found. They were sitting next to each other, and yet had never experienced such a distance between one another. Her head rested on his shoulder, his arms were curled around her, trying to comfort her, yet knowing he would not succeed._

'_I don't want to go.'_

'_You have to, my love. We can't…with the people we are…a child of ours would be a constant hitpoint here. We can't do that to her. Or him.'_

'_It's a him.'_

_The corners of his mouth twitched, yet the joy didn't reach his eyes._

'_A boy, huh. Our son.'_

_A throaty sob escaped her, and now he too let his tears flow over his cheeks._

'_There's no escape here, honey. I wish I could say we will be in this together, but we both know that's impossible.'_

_She roughly wiped away her tears with her fists, but it didn't stop the flowing of more tears. He put her fists in her lap again and gently wiped them away with his thumbs, kissing her lips softly._

'_When do I go? Where do I go?'_

_His voice turned business-like again._

'_New York. I will provide all the financial needs, you don't have to worry about that.'_

'_I don't want your money.'_

_He smirked; 'Oh really? I can remember there was a time you did…'_

_She slapped him playfully as she remembered the start of their romance. It seemed ages ago; it felt ages ago. And yet not long enough to tire of this man._

'_Will I ever see you?'_

_He didn't answer, just tightened the embrace._

'_I love you, you know that.'_

'_Use your love to make up for two parents for our son.'_

_They stood up and walked through the door, where all her baggage was loaded in the car already._

'_Don't overdo it, don't pick up anything heavy.'_

_She smirked again, through her tears, printing the cliché advice in her memory. They hugged one more time, shared a deep kiss, and then he abruptly walked away, not able to control his emotions anymore. She lastly walked past Alfred, who was standing at the door with a sympathetic yet sad smile._

'_Have a safe journey, dear. And take care of the little one and yourself. Though, if there is one thing I am certain of, it is that he will be safe.'_

_She smiled at her old friend and hugged him._

'_Take care of him, too. Make sure he exceeds in his goals.'_

_Alfred smiled for a last time as she let him go, and with a last kiss on his cheek she left the building she had called home not so long ago.  
_

'Does he have a family?'

His question startled Martha from the vivid memory, and she blinked a few times before answering.

'He does; he has a lovely daughter from a previous marriage, Alexis. Alexis is perfect really, yet is perfectionistic like her grandfather. She studies at Colombia now, after an initial flirtation with Stanford. She is very intelligent, and will be a marvelous woman when she grows up. Ironically, she is the most responsible of all of us, something I suppose she inherited from you too. After Meredith divorced Richard, he married his publicist Paula, but that didn't last very long either. But I suppose it's true when they say third time is a charm, because his third wife, Kate Beckett, is his current wife. Kate is amazing really, and she loves our son so very much. She is a detective and I suppose you could say he is too, unofficially. They have two children, Bruce Kevin and Dakota Johanna.'

His eyes lit up when he heard it, but he then frowned.

'How? Did you? What…'

She laughed, a carefree laugh that made her many years younger.

'The best thing is that I didn't say a word, love. They came up with it themselves, with both of them. Dakota means forever smiling, which is what they got in their 'Always'.'

He frowned even more, and she eagerly explained: 'It something between them. This word, 'Always', it has been an everlasting promise throughout their courtship, and now they are living that promise. So they named their second child, born five years ago, Dakota Johanna, Johanna after her murdered mother's name. And Bruce…I often played with the idea of bringing at least the name up, but I decided not to. So you can imagine my surprise when Kate brought it up during shopping once. They wanted that name because of the meaning too; perseverance. Another keyword in their courtship. And Kevin stands for the guy who saved Kate when she almost died, who actually gave her back her life because she and Castle got together after that experience.'

'That is truly extraordinary. I can't believe I have a grandson who's named after me, even if it's unintended.'

'I think it is a gift of God, or the universe or whoever runs this world nowadays. To bring you back in my life like this. Because much as I tried, Bruce, I never forgot about you. How could I, right? There is only Bruce Wayne, and I love that man with all my heart.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Three chapters in one night...I am impressed by myself for being so active, given my past works and their update amount...oh well. So am I doing something okay here or is this just a mess? And yes, I was very inspired by The Dark Knight Rises, I loved it. I heard about the shooting when I came back from the movie (I live in Holland, so I only saw it in the news after the movie). I hate how its name has been stained by some idiot who just took ruined so many lives for nothing! My heart goes out to the victims (and their relatives) of the shooting.**

**Please let me know if this is a good track or if I should rather focus on other stories. Yes, I am rather insecure about it now...so do review! I don't own Castle or Batman!**

The pair drank their tea in silence as they let the reality of the situation sink in. Bruce Wayne was here, in New York, to see her, formerly Selina Kyle, now Martha Rodgers. Bruce had been forced to be an absent dad, though there hadn't been a day he hadn't thought of the love of his life and his son.

'So why are you here, Bruce? Is Gotham finally safe of its demons?'

He curled his mouth in a disapproving way when he thought of his birth town and its everlasting deal of villains. He had spent a lifetime trying to protect the city as well as possible, until he had been forced to hand over the cape to his 'heir'. A lifetime protecting a city instead of raising his son, instead of marrying the woman he loved…he had paid a price, but had it been worth it?

'No, but that is not my responsibility anymore. I donned the cape years ago, and spend the last twenty years organizing partnerships between various defenders of the city, educating them, helping them with weaponry, tactics and everything else that comes with the job. And I suppose, now I think of it, taking over Alfred's role.'

'I take it Alfred is no more?'

'No; he died about nine years ago…he told me about the promise you made him make you.'

'Did he keep it?' she smirked, knowing Alfred was sure to have kept it.

'He did. Exceedingly so. Though now that you mention it, he did say something about a promise you were supposed to keep. He told me I need to go and see myself if you kept it.'

Selina laughed and pinked a tear away, remembering the old man's fathering nature and how he had always supported their relationship, even in the days when she was Catwoman. She still remembered his words that she cherished most: 'You see Bruce beyond Batman, and Batman beyond Bruce. You understand him like no other and love him as such. If there is any future mrs. Wayne, it's you, miss Kyle.' If only, she mused. If only.

'He made me promise to take care of Richard. I like to think I did so.'

'You have done a wonderful job, Selina. He is wonderful.'

This made Selina frown.

'Have you met him?'

Bruce smirked at the memory.

'I once went up to him for a talk, with the excuse of getting an autograph. He was very polite and cordial, and very in love with his wife. I could tell he was very fond of his mother too, though he did rolled his eyes over your "dramatic tendencies". I suppose some things are forever?'

Selina opened her mouth in amused bewilderment, but no sound came out.

'No response of Selina Kyle? I thought hell would freeze over first.'

Selina rolled her eyes at that, and said; 'I can't help that I didn't have anyone to practice with!'

He nodded in defeat, and took another sip of his tea.

'I indeed noticed you never remarried. Why?'

'I only wanted you, Bruce. Why settle for anyone less? And Richard didn't want anyone else in our life either, you know, later. He was always so against the men I brought home. Like he knew nobody could replace you. He also never pushed through with questions about his father. He was so understanding in that aspect. He never pried.'

'And you didn't marry either?'

'Same reason. It was always the Bat and the Cat, even when they were apart.'

He took a sip of his tea again.

'So how do we know you haven't been followed, Bruce? We didn't go through so much shit only to have Richard in danger once again!'

'I donned the cape, and the interest in Bruce Wayne died down after he stopped coming out of his mansion. For all Gotham knows I am dead, rotting away in my mansion.'

'But it's only a matter of time till you will appear in the NY papers, Bruce! Richard is famous, you're billionaire Bruce Wayne! I used to be an actress! We are all famous, Bruce. I can't risk this. Not this, not Richard or his family.'

'They won't, Selina.'

'Why not? _How do you know!'_

'Because, Selina…'

He took a sip of his tea again and then looked her straight in the eye; 'I am dieing.'

...**If I do get enough of good reactions, I will continue soon and include Castle the family I gave him. And about the name...I googled perseverance as the meaning of a name, because it fits Castle so well, and I actually laughed out loud when Bruce came up. So there it was, Bruce Kevin Castle.**


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